TTo My Friends
Is it possible that Trump has held a mirror in front of our faces? Have you ever looked up and been shocked to see yourself in a mirror you didn’t know was there, say, in a department store window? And been shocked at how you look? Normally we preen in front of mirrors, turn this way and that for the best angle, smile at ourselves, etc., then take that for how we look. A sudden glance in an unexpected mirror can throw back a strange image, one we’re not so crazy about: (oh. do I always slouch? gosh, I look awful when I’m not smiling)
Let’s face it: we have some soul searching to do.
Many of the pundits say that Trump won because he gave voice to people who feel left out. I believe this is true. But the voice he gave them is hate. The worst of them are out now painting swastikas on public walls.
Isn’t there an opportunity for us here? Can’t we assume that most of these people are, rather than truly hateful, actually hurting? Aren’t they aching for RECOGNITION more than any other thing? Aren’t they sick of being powerless and overlooked and made fun of in Facebook slideshows of Walmart customers?
Here’s my idea. Let’s find a way to lift up these people’s voices. Ignore the hate stuff for the moment. We can go deeper. And it’s not politics first. It’s art.
Art is the surest and fastest way to massage the goodness in people and bring it out. When we attempt to express ourselves through writing, painting, dance, song, we have to turn inward. There is no other way. When we get there, we look for threads or relics (words, images, movements) that match two criteria: first, they must be as close to our pure truth as we can get; and second, we want them to contain elements that other people will also recognize as true for themselves. Politicians do this when developing talking points. I witnessed Leslie Danks Burke doing it recently when listening to constituents on front porches in Hornell. She has a great ear: what are the things we both understand to be true? Now we can talk. Making art is like that, but at a slower pace. The real beauty of it is that while we're perfecting our expression, we're perfecting ourselves, or at least uncovering better versions of ourselves as we go deeper.
Art ignites the adventure of reflection in a person, provides a voice, possibly an audience, and ultimately connection to a tribe, whether or not it is recognized in any kind of market. (The market for art is beside the point.)
Maybe our politics have simply left too many of our neighbors behind, and their alienation has finally found some release, however derelict, in the con man who gives the finger to the tribe that left him out.
I think this is fertile ground.
Is it possible that Trump has held a mirror in front of our faces? Have you ever looked up and been shocked to see yourself in a mirror you didn’t know was there, say, in a department store window? And been shocked at how you look? Normally we preen in front of mirrors, turn this way and that for the best angle, smile at ourselves, etc., then take that for how we look. A sudden glance in an unexpected mirror can throw back a strange image, one we’re not so crazy about: (oh. do I always slouch? gosh, I look awful when I’m not smiling)
Let’s face it: we have some soul searching to do.
Many of the pundits say that Trump won because he gave voice to people who feel left out. I believe this is true. But the voice he gave them is hate. The worst of them are out now painting swastikas on public walls.
Isn’t there an opportunity for us here? Can’t we assume that most of these people are, rather than truly hateful, actually hurting? Aren’t they aching for RECOGNITION more than any other thing? Aren’t they sick of being powerless and overlooked and made fun of in Facebook slideshows of Walmart customers?
Here’s my idea. Let’s find a way to lift up these people’s voices. Ignore the hate stuff for the moment. We can go deeper. And it’s not politics first. It’s art.
Art is the surest and fastest way to massage the goodness in people and bring it out. When we attempt to express ourselves through writing, painting, dance, song, we have to turn inward. There is no other way. When we get there, we look for threads or relics (words, images, movements) that match two criteria: first, they must be as close to our pure truth as we can get; and second, we want them to contain elements that other people will also recognize as true for themselves. Politicians do this when developing talking points. I witnessed Leslie Danks Burke doing it recently when listening to constituents on front porches in Hornell. She has a great ear: what are the things we both understand to be true? Now we can talk. Making art is like that, but at a slower pace. The real beauty of it is that while we're perfecting our expression, we're perfecting ourselves, or at least uncovering better versions of ourselves as we go deeper.
Art ignites the adventure of reflection in a person, provides a voice, possibly an audience, and ultimately connection to a tribe, whether or not it is recognized in any kind of market. (The market for art is beside the point.)
Maybe our politics have simply left too many of our neighbors behind, and their alienation has finally found some release, however derelict, in the con man who gives the finger to the tribe that left him out.
I think this is fertile ground.
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